Description

Final Fantasy Tactics was a big move for the whole Final Fantasy franchise into different fields. Tactics combines traditional elements of the Final Fantasy series with a completely different game mechanics and battle system. It was the 1st game during the Final Fantasy 32-bit era using a 3D, isometric, rotatable playing field, with bitmap sprite characters and a turn based strategy system.

In the game you build up a team by recruiting many available characters you meet during your travels and stocking up plenty of items, to defeat various enemies waiting on your path. The game features a very complex character class(job) system where each character begins his way with a job such as Squire or Chemist. Successfully participating in battles, characters can later select one of more advanced jobs, with a total of 19 to choose from. In addition there are certain monsters and computer controlled "guests" with their own jobs and special abilities available to learn. In total, over 400 abilities are available which leads to nearly endless combinations.

The PSP version of the game mostly reiterates the original for the PSOne. Visual presentation is almost a 1:1 copy, looking like the old version with a zoomed-in camera to make it fit the PSP screen. Port developer Tose added cel-shaded introduction movies and numerous animation sequences played after each chapter ends. Some maps were completely remade as well, but you still cannot skip event scenes.

Also the PSP version features two new playable characters: Balthier, from Final Fantasy XII and Luso from Final Fantasy Tactics A2. Two new job classes have been added - the completely new Onion Knight and the Dark Knight class which was available on the PSOne only after using a cheat code. There are two wireless multiplayer options available once you've reached the world map (just go into a bar in any town). One is Coliseum (Versus Battle Mode), the second is Cooperative Challenge (team mission).

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Characters

None of the characters in the game have noses. Not even the main characters or the guest appearance from Cloud.

References

Cloud Strife and Aeris Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII make cameos in Final Fantasy Tactics. Cloud is a playable character; Aeris is a flowerseller in Zarghidas Trade City.

Re-release

The game was re-released as part of the Playstation "Greatest Hits" collection. Unfortunately, the first batch of CDs for the re-release were defective and would not work on the Playstation. Oddly enough, they worked fine on Playstation emulators for the PC, such as Bleem or Virtual Game Station.

Save games

The game counter for number of hours played on a saved game does not display above 99:59:59 (1 second away from 100 hours).

Spells

For some unknown reason, perhaps an error in translation, the Glacier Gun shoots Fire spells while the Blaze Gun shoots Ice spells.

Tactics Ogre (Spoiler!)

This game actually bears striking similarities to Tactics Ogre, another tactical RPG that was released for the Super Famicom (the Japanese equivalent of the Super Nintendo) two years before Final Fantasy Tactics was made. This is not surprising, as many members of the Tactics Ogre staff were also programmers of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Both games have a similar menu layout, consist of four chapters, and feature "Zodiac Stones" as a prominent part of their storyline. There's also quite a bit of similarity between the game's main characters, as Ramza, Delita, and Alma are more or less mirrored in personality and role as their Tactics Ogre counterparts. To top it off, in both games the final battle features the resurrection of a long-dead legendary hero (often mentioned in the course of the game) who turns out to actually be a demonic jerk.

Awards

Game Informer

August 2001 (Issue #100) - #45 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll